This invention relates generally to the field of part supply management systems and specifically to managing a decentralized part supply system via a wide area network.
A warehouse serves as a load balancing system matching the output of a supplier to the demands of a customer. The supplier creates parts and keeps the parts in a warehouse until the supplier receives a purchase order from a customer requesting a part from a customer. The supplier then pulls the requested part from the warehouse and ships the requested part to the customer. The customer receives the requested part, taking possession of it, and pays the supplier for the part.
A supplier typically keeps a few centralized warehouses in strategically located areas so as to be close to the supplier's customers. However shipping delays may cause the customer to wait for the requested part to be shipped from the warehouse by the supplier to the customer.
In time critical operations, such as the repair of aircraft engines used for commercial purposes, any shipping delay may be unacceptable. Therefore, decentralized part supply systems have evolved wherein the supplier ships to a particular customer parts that are owned by the supplier but are kept on the particular customer's premises in a secure area. The customer only takes possession of parts the customer issues from the secure area. The supplier keeps the secure area stocked with replenishment shipments of parts based on the number of parts the customer issues from the secure area. This creates a decentralized part supply system allowing the demands of a particular customer to be readily met by the supplier.
A decentralized part supply system may generate new management difficulties for the supplier and the customer. A supplier should be able to track the number of parts in a customer's secure area in order to make replenishment shipments. Preferably, the supplier should be able to monitor the inventory in the secure area without having to physically travel to the secure area and take inventory. The supplier should also know when a customer takes possession of a part when the customer issues a part from the secure area. Furthermore, customers may need to know if a replenishment shipment is in transit to the secure area when the number of parts falls below the customer's expected requirements. Finally, both the supplier and the customer may want to coordinate their activities with regard to the secure area in order to ensure efficient operation of the secure area.
The maintenance and repair of commercial aircraft may place an additional demand on a decentralized part supply system. An aircraft may be maintained or repaired using either new or rebuilt parts. A part that is designed so that it may be rebuilt a number of times is called a rotable part or simply a rotable. A part may be placed in service in an aircraft until wear on the part exceeds certain threshold values. The part may then be removed from service, rebuilt, and flight certified for use again. Therefore, at any given time, a secure area being used as a portion of the decentralized part supply system may contain both new and rebuilt parts. A supplier and a customer may need to know whether or not a part is new or a rebuilt part and may want to track a particular rebuilt part during its useful lifetime. Additionally, a worn rotable may be returned to the supplier as a core. In some cases, the worn part may be unsuitable for use as a core and the part is scrapped. Both the supplier and customer may need to know that a particular part was scrapped and that the customer needs to take a new part instead of a rebuilt part. Finally, the cost of a rebuilt part and a new part are usually different and both the supplier and the customer may need to know whether new or rebuilt parts are being issued in order for an accurate accounting to be made.
Prior systems attempted to increase the availability of rebuilt parts by allowing multiple suppliers to bid for a customer's rebuildable parts and by improving the visibility of the rebuilding and shipping process. One such system, created by Honeywell Inc., is an Internet based system known as Intalogik.
Using the services of Intalogik, customers solicit bids from suppliers for rebuilding used parts. Interested suppliers submit bids to a customer and the customer selects a supplier from among the interested suppliers based on the submitted bids. The customer then ships the used parts to the selected supplier for rebuilding.
The customer then uses the Intalogik system to track the progress of the rebuilding process while the part is at the supplier's site. The supplier is reminded by the Intalogik of impending deadlines and customer requests for status updates.
Once a used part is rebuilt, it is shipped back the customer and the customer receives an in-transit tracking number. The customer uses the in-transit tracking number to track the rebuilt part throughout the shipping process.
While Intalogik does improve the availability and visibility of rebuildable parts, it does not provide for the management of a decentralized part supply system.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to develop a system for managing a decentralized part supply system containing new and rebuilt parts.